Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced on November 12, 2012, the creation of a website intended to serve as a resource for understanding new chemical testing approaches. These approaches are typically less costly and time-consuming than animal-based tests. EDF notes that while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has invested resources to create research programs to advance new types of chemical testing and assessment approaches, questions for users remain. EDF’s website includes the following resources:

Chemical Testing in the 21st Century: A Primer -- An introduction to EPA’s Computational Toxicology (CompTox) research initiative and its component programs, such as ToxCast; a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of these new testing programs; and a discussion of issues and needs for greater engagement by the public interest community; and

Chemical Testing in the 21st Century: Webinar Series -- Linked audio and video recordings of each of EDF’s three webinars (held in October) featuring EDF and EPA scientists exploring the basics of EPA’s new testing programs and the promises and challenges they present.

On March 19, 2009, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (CDTSC) will hold a full-day nanotechnology symposium on nanomaterials regulation from a variety of perspectives. According to CDTSC, the symposium will focus on the regulatory aspects of nanotechnology, the role of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and CDTSC’s chemical information call-in program including nanoscale materials. CDTSC states that federal interest in nanomaterial regulation and California’s efforts “provide a great opportunity for fostering technological advances that recognize environmental and public health concerns. The goal is to create a partnership where we can enhance research where needed and promote sustainable processes as well as applications.” Registration is required. The symposium will also be available via web cast.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently posted two blog items regarding a consent order negotiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The October 9, 2008, item states that EPA intends to issue a sanitized version of a consent order negotiated with a producer of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). According to EDF, the order was prompted by EPA’s review of a premanufacturing notification (PMN).

EDF obtained a redacted copy of the consent order, and provides the following summary of the requirements:

Conduct a 90-day inhalation toxicity test in rats;

Supply EPA with a one-gram sample of its MWCNTs and its Material Safety Data Sheet;

Submit certain characterization data within six months after commencing full manufacture;

Require its workers to wear protective gloves and clothing shown to be impermeable and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved respirators;

Use the substance only for a particular use, claimed confidential but generically identified as a “property modifier” in electronics and polymer composites; and

Provide the nanomaterial only to entities that agree to the same use restrictions and worker protection conditions.